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Weight Watchers' Portrayal of A Woman’s Butt

January 21, 2015   86 Comments

I’m no prude but I like to talk about my backside with words such as “bottom” or “tush”.

Weight Watchers Butt Ad

The latest Weight Watchers advertisement is actually called “My Butt” and we get to see a changing and aging image of a woman’s bottom for about a minute.

Check it out here:

At first, I wasn’t sure what to think of defining a woman’s life through bottom size. But I kept feeling kinda creeped-out and disgusted after I watched it and I decided that I find it demeaning to women.

For example, at one point the voice says, “I got my butt a job.” Okayyy. What about the rest of you? Is there a rest of you? Did the job help you pay bills for your butt or did the rest of you get to stay in the apartment you rented as well? Did your butt do the salary negotiations?

Was your butt key in getting a raise? Hmmm.

Perhaps the people who put this ad together didn’t think through the implication of isolating a body part that can be “checked out” or commented on by men as being “hot” or “not”.

Maybe they should have used a non-sexual body part such as a knee or elbow. ☺

My point is this – you are so much more than parts. Your worth cannot be defined by a number on a scale or the size of your jeans or the shape of your tush.

You are not a “butt” and if anyone ever talks about you as simply a “butt” tell them to stick it.

I know why WW chose to advertise in this way but I feel it is body shaming and is harmful to how we view ourselves.

Did you see this commercial? What did you think?

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First 20 Comments: [ see all 86 ]

I understand your criticism but the ad is the honest to God truth. It really happens. Very effective ad to get people to join.

on January 21, 2015

I think WW has FINALLY come out in strong terms helping to identify where the problem really begins and ends, no pun intended. I think I hear where you are coming from in your comments, but happen to think it's a very clever ad. I love your site.

on January 21, 2015

I thought this ad was a little too "Madison Avenue" for WW.My posterior is not what greets me in the mirror when I brush my teeth. It's not the part of me that picks up my dog for a snuggle, or the part that runs to catch the bus. I rarely think about my butt because I can't see it! If the rest of me is happy then I am happy with the whole package. You are correct Lisa, stop focusing on one part of the whole. Silly move WW..

on January 21, 2015

I agree that it's shaming. Also demeaning and condescending. And it objectifies women. I don't remember seeing them show a male butt like this. I was immediately put off, and their rep hit rock bottom with me. There's no justifiable excuse for any of this.

on January 21, 2015

I hate it!!!

I do not know what all this obsession with the "butt" is. There are songs, implants and every view is aimed at the "butt"

I think it is disgusting and I am really disappointed in WW.

They had a beautiful commercial about eating your way through all emotions, that was REAL!!

Get back to the drawing board WW

on January 21, 2015

Weight Watchers is losing credibility with commercials such as these. I agree with Lisa-- the butt ad is offensive. Why do so many advertisers feel that they have to show body parts to sell their products??? Come on, WW.....you can do better than this!

on January 21, 2015

Imagine a man in this commercial. Focusing his whole life on the state of his butt. Wondering if his butt was still the same size as when he was a little boy or on his wedding day. Finally, the woman's face we see is not the butt we've seen for the last minute. Awful.

on January 21, 2015

A Duke University study: the average Weight Watcher paid $375 and lost 5 lbs. They prey on the desperate and have a program that guarantees failure so that the customer will have to continually rejoin. They just had their eighth quarter loss in a row, so they are absolutely desperate. Their next ads will probably show a naked tush or two....or worse. Congress should investigate this company, like they did the tobacco companies. They have been selling their con game for 50 years while obesity deaths escalate, and laughing all the way to the bank.

on January 21, 2015

My husband LOVES this commercial and freezes the screen on the initial butt image. I am happy he is appreciative of women of every size and he says we are all beautiful. I don't feel upset that he admires the female form and am comfortable that he feels comfortable letting me see him admire women. As for me, after 18 years of Marketing experience I can say that this may be an effective commercial for WW as they were aiming to get noticed. It is effective because it makes you think about your life and how your body has evolved...but I can certainly see others perspectives about it being demeaning. At the end of the day, from a Marketing perspective, bad press is sometimes more effective than positive because as you can see, we are all talking about it and that is what they want...attention to their product.

on January 21, 2015

I hate it, shame on you WWW!

on January 21, 2015

Nope. I don't like it. It's not a word we use at our house, so I find it a bit crass. On the other hand, we usually mute all commercials at our house, so I was surprised to find out what this was for, since I'd assumed it was for toilet paper when I first saw it. Oh, and Weight Watchers, it's my stomach, not my backside, that has always been my issue. So there's that, too. I can't imagine anyone making the same commercial featuring a stomach because, as you mentioned, it's not typically a sexuallized body part.

on January 21, 2015

It really caught my attention. It's all true. And you will never please everybody.

on January 21, 2015

What confused me is these all seem to be normal sized women. What are we shooting for...to have the backsides of little boys? It's a ridiculous commercial.

on January 21, 2015

Got my attention! Lighten up, people!Butts are funny!Everybody has one! A button is universal, and seldom perfect! I have list 95 pounds on WW, kept it off for 3 years, will never quit! My poor but is an empty sac, but I'm 64, and out having a great life with my healthy weight and saggy butt! Lovin' life!

on January 21, 2015

Hate it. Demeaning and shallow. Yes, also sexist. I'm not working out to have a good butt - it never crossed my mind. I want to feel better, be healthy and age well. Including staving off heart disease, osteoporosis and stroke that's in my family history. Yes I do want to feel better about how I look but thats not the main part of the equation. Guess I'm just not shallow enough for WW. Oh well!

on January 21, 2015

I actually like it. To me its portraying a girl who grows up and she didn't have a issue with her bottom until about her teens and her relationship/view is an unhappy. There are many women that focus on one or a few parts of their body that they are unhappy about. Then she become a women and went on many diets and still she wasn't happy but she began to realise that it isn't about just one part of her body its about all of her self and her brain and how she views/relationship with her body.

I think that the commercial is quite clever as at the moment in the media and there are many songs about the this part of our anatomy.

on January 21, 2015

"you are so much more than parts. Your worth cannot be defined by a number on a scale or the size of your jeans or the shape of your tush."

I think you might be agreeing with the point of the commercial. How I see it, WW is touching upon the fact that we as women DO focus on ONE part of our body. Our brain becomes obsessed with our negative feelings about our thighs or tummy or butt or chin and we focus our self worth on that made-up shortcoming. I think this commercial is telling us that you shouldn't focus like this, and part of creating a healthier you is to train your brain to NOT treat one part of your body you may sometimes feel negative about as the speaker for the rest of your body.

on January 21, 2015

I like it! As bad as some think the ad is, it is still a LOT better than most of the other ads on TV. Well done, WW!

on January 21, 2015

Sick, sexist, demeaning ad for a sick society. Its to be expected but for me, I'm disgusted. I cancelled cable 10yrs ago mostly due to ads and sensational "news", that I didn't want poisoning my mind or views. Big turnoff to WW, a corp that exists mainly from women customers.

on January 21, 2015

Maybe YOU don't care about your butt, but someone else may and this commercial may speak to them. And as someone else said, you can't please everybody. As to the comment that WW doesn't work...you obviously didn't follow the program because it does. I along with many other people I know are success stories.

on January 21, 2015

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